About that car....

The car in the above photo has sat in that same location for as long as I've been living in Yonezawa.  Essentially it's an abandoned vehicle.  But I couldn't suss out why it hadn't been towed away.  Finally, a month or two ago, I found out.

The story, according to a friend of mine, is that it belongs to a fellow who used to own a very large plot of land on the east side of Yonezawa station.  As time passed he subdivided his land and sold off the parcels piece by piece.  Eventually he was left with a tiny sliver of land occupying a corner next to an intersection.  That's where he parked his car.

The rest of the story is that the fellow no longer lives in Yonezawa.  I've glanced at the licence plates on the car and they're from Nagano prefecture (or city).  So that part of the story sounds like it's true.  I also heard he's e a bit advanced in age and doesn't travel around much either.  So, he probably doesn't have any reason to be back in Yonezawa again.  So his old car has remained in Yonezawa sitting on his last piece of real estate here.  Thus we have the last piece of the puzzle.

A Rude Awakening...Of a Sort.

This morning I was woken up by a chorus of chain saws (I found out from a friend later that there doesn't seem to be Japanese specific name for the tool - it's just a "che-in-sa-uh").  After listening to the racket for a while I got up and opened the shoji slide doors to take a look at what was going on.  The sight wasn't a pleasing one.  Workers were busy cutting down the trees in the lot next door.  After a while the sound of the chain saws and trees being felled became a bit disturbing so I went out for lunch. 

At the cafe I asked about the Japanese name for a chain saw.  That led on to their purpose this morning.  I was told the lot is being cleared so that a new apartment building can be built.  The purpose of the Shinto ceremony which woke me up late last month thus became apparent; the priest was unconsecrating the little shrine in the corner of the lot. 

The buildings which occupied the lot housed a restaurant which had been founded in the 10th year of the Meiji era or 1877.  The buildings were of a much more recent vintage as the original structures would have burned down in the 1910s when a pair of massive fires consumed the centre of the city.  I'd hazard a guess that the business closed down as much as 20 years ago though the buildings were used occasionally as late as this past summer.  My friend's remark was that it's a bit sad to see it being torn down.

Then I asked him what one calls a Shinto priest in Japanese (the answer is "kannushi"/ 神主 ) and that led onto a question of what is the difference between "bokushi" (牧師) and "shinpu" (神父).   I couldn't come up with an authoritative answer to that one.  I pointed out that the kanji for shinpu suggested a relationship to the title of "Father" used by the Catholic Church.  By that time Minako, the woman taking care of the cafe today, had joined the conversation and it went off on tangent: the meaning of "ho-ankan" (保安官) in English and what position of authority that would equate to in Japan.  That prompted me to check online and the word I pulled out of the hat was "sheriff".

Trying to explain "sheriff" was a bit of a handful for me.  I pointed out that sheriffs were public figures responsible for enforcing the law before the days of police forces.  I also pointed out their frequent appearances in westerns and cowboy movies.  That tipped off my friend and he mentioned the title of a millennial western movie, "Young Guns".  So we talked a bit about the rule of the law in the Wild West.  On top of that was talk about various titles used by the public for members of Japanese police officers and whether or not their usage is correct in Japanese language subtitles for American movies. 

Anyways, the conversation was a lot longer than last night's conversation about a vegetable called "takana".  Incidentally, that name is a local version.  I don't remember the proper Japanese name for it.  Though I suspect the vegetable in question is kale.  At which point its name would be "ryoku kanran"...I think.

"Post War Blues" and "What's Going On?"

The above two are titles to songs.  The former is by Dan Magnan.  If I recall correctly the first line is "Let's start a war for the kids...".  The latter probably doesn't need an introduction. But, yes, indeed it is the title of the late Marvin Gaye's 1971 hit song.  The latter was playing on my iPhone when I left the office this evening.  I thought of the other as I walked out to the car.  They seem like such a fitting denouement to the day's main event; the US presidential election.

I only spoke with one person today about the US election.  That was a student who started on the subject when I had mistakenly reached for my iPhone during a break in a lesson.  She guessed correctly that I wanted to check the results.  When she asked me who I thought was going to win the election, I matter of factually replied the winner probably was going to be Trump.  She was genuinely shocked when she heard that.  She wondered out loud in Japanese, "I wonder what will happen".  Without hesitation I stated that the TPP agreement was likely doomed.  Same for the Paris Agreement on the environment.  The only silver lining she could find to the cloud was the value of the US dollar.  I made a sound like a rapidly deflating balloon and agreed it might be a good time to scoop up some US dollars.  She chuckled and said she was probably going to do so.  And that was more or less the end of conversation as we had reached the end of the time slot for her lesson.  I gave her a hint on what tomorrow's lesson was going to be on and that was all....


PS:  I taught a lesson today that focused on the poem "In Flanders Fields".  It was an interesting experience.  I played a bit of a CBC news story about Lt. Col. McCrae.  Portions of the poem were read in the video clip.  They helped him get an idea of how to read the poem.  He did relatively well with that task.  But he was puzzled by the word "ye".  I told him of its less poetic counterpart and all was well. 

Oh, yes, I remembered to pin a poppy on my suit jacket today.....

What to do...what to do....

The powers that be have decided that this year's Christmas party for staff and students will be held at a local hotel.  I presume they'll hire out a room typically used for small wedding receptions.  This is quite a change from a three years ago when we held a pot-luck dinner at a local community centre.

The regional manager also tossed in another request: the teachers and local school manager are to entertain the guests.  In the past we resorted to a Xmas trivia quiz.  Unfortunately the students started to memorize the answers.  So one year we did a shortened version of the Monty Python "Cheese Shop" sketch.  The students were mostly bemused so the following year we were told to put together presentations about Xmas at home using Powerpoint slides.  Now we're being asked to do what the teachers at the Yamagata school are doing: perform a few songs accompanied by some kind of instrument.  Great...none of us down in Yonezawa can really play any musical instruments.  One guy has stage fright.  The other guy can't sing to save his life.  I haven't played a whole song on a guitar since junior high school.

On Tuesday evening our school manager had a sort of serious sounding conversation on the phone with someone.  My interest was piqued when I heard my name a few times.  After she hung up, taken a deep breath, and sighed, she wandered over and asked if I could play the guitar for the Xmas party.  I cautioned her that she had to choose easy songs to play.  "How about that Eric Clapton song about heaven?", she asked.  I checked the chords online...it could be doable. "Or something people could sing along to...like 'Country Roads'?", she continued.  That, I had a bit more confidence in.  She continued on, "...and I'd like to sing 'Diana'.  Can you play that?".  Okay.  That one had me stumped.  How a 26-year old could go about choosing to sing that song was beyond me.  I've seen fellows in their late 50s and 60s tackling that song at karaoke but never anyone really young.  Nonetheless, I said I'd look into it.

At the end of the discussion I think I got saddled with learning three songs; Country Roads, Diana, and that Clapton tune.  I can probably figure out how to play the Clapton tune.  But part of me would rather tackle The Tragically Hip's "Bobcaygeon".  Which raises a small dilemma...while I'd get more satisfaction out of playing and singing "Bobcaygeon", no one in the audience would have a clue what the song is about or why I chose it.  What to do....  Maybe I should just do both tunes.  But first I need to get my hands on a guitar.... 

So Someone Has Tried Their Hand at Brewing Beer

Last weekend I met up with a friend to go over a few e-mails.  She wanted to check with me to see if she had understood the contents of them properly as they were written in English.  After that was done we settled down to having a few drinks.

After we had finished a round at the place we had met, she asked me if I knew about Gokuraku Brewing.  I professed I wasn't aware of the company.  It turns out they are running a brewhouse restaurant and bar not far from her home.  Given the interest I displayed she guided me there to sample their beers.

The place is probably an old workshop or small factory which was converted into a microbrewery and restaurant.  The ceilings are high but the place is not too brightly lit.  So it's a comfortable place to be.

Initially I was going to order a glass of their "ukogi" beer.  "Ukogi" is a name applied to several species of plants in the genus Eleutherococcus.  The species typically grown in Yonezawa is E. sieboldianus.  Its Japanese name is "himé ukogi".   Anyways, I was dissuaded by my server who suggested a flight of beers instead.  In it are the two beers the company brews; ukogi beer, and Tateyama apple beer, and a sample of Sapporo, a commercial brand,

As much as I like to promote local products, I find it a bit difficult to recommend these beers.  They both suffer from a strong acidic aftertaste.  My friend says that they've improved since their initial offerings.  I sense there is some potential here but I believe the brew master might want to refine his skill making a decent pilsener or lager instead of starting off with esoteric flavours.  Nonetheless, I hope he can do well enough catering to the curiosity seekers so that he can afford the time to refine his brewing skills.

Waking up to a Drumbeat

I was awakened by a distinct sound this morning.  It was the sound of a drum being hit.  Soon the sound turned into a steady drumbeat.  Then I start to hear chanting.  I cracked open the shoji and took a look outside.  Some kind of ceremony or ritual was taking place in front of small Shinto shrine on the property next door.  Given that this is the first time I've seen any activity in front of this structure, I grabbed my iPhone and shot the following video.  If you've got a sharp ear and you'll notice the difference between this chanting and that which is done by Buddhist priests....

(You can also listen to it here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8936205@N02/29835085493/)

A brief update....

I was back in Vancouver in September.  Spent two weeks there and had a wonderful time.  Met up with plenty of friends and enjoyed reconnecting with everyone.  I also was introduced to someone whom a friend had confused me with.  At a reception last year my friend said "I just saw one of your relatives here".   I had no clue what was going on because I was quite sure none of my relatives were in attendance.  Turned out the mistake happened since I share the first name as another fellow my friend was thinking of.

Anyways...I was thinking of writing a post which involved a somewhat grisly subject.  It had stemmed from a conversation in Yonezawa where I was trying to impress upon the locals how bad a road kill skunk smells.  One fellow quickly one upped me; he had witnessed an accident in Tokyo involving a drunk man and an incoming commuter train.  Enough said.  I've decided not to go into further detail.

On that note I'm going to excuse myself....

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Side note: As I logged on to this site today I was shown a blank page with the message that the page wasn't being displayed because my browser doesn't support Javascript.  Actually, I use a script blocker...end of story.